


liquid courage

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Community: femslash12, F/F, mustache kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 22:18:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You could have sworn you took one of those bullshit 'what kind of drunk are you?' online surveys ages ago, telling you that you would absolutely be an honest drunk.  Why not put the power of hearsay and the internet to the test?</p>
            </blockquote>





	liquid courage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrueBlueSpark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrueBlueSpark/gifts).



TG: jaaney  
TG: hey jamey hey hey  
TG: listen   
GG: Ro-lal, is that you?  
GG: Is something wrong with your husktop? What is the matter!   
TT: i have somthing important 2 tell u  
TT: jane  
TT: listen i   
GG: Yes? What is it?

You could not do it. You could not confess to the girl.

You'd discovered your mom's liquor stash the previous night, after a particularly fruitful fenestration crawl. You swear, this mansion was so full of concealed rooms and invisible walls and mysterious hiding places you'd probably be digging up gold for years. That's why the house was so big. It's full of secrets.

From what you knew of her, your mother the late Rose Lalonde never even touched the drink. Just like the proper lady she was. This was your first time trying it, and after the initial moment of bluh wore off, it occurred to you that this might be exactly what you needed. They called it 'liquid courage', after all, right? You could have sworn you took one of those bullshit 'what kind of drunk are you?' online surveys ages ago, telling you that you would absolutely be an honest drunk. Why not put the power of hearsay and the internet to the test?

\-- TipsyGnostalgic [TG] is now an idle chum! --   
GG: Ro-lal?  
GG: Are you there? Are you all right??

You feel like throwing up. It begins to dawn on you how sad it was of you to place so much hope on the vodka to give you the strength to do this, and that everything you had done may have proven to be a collosal waste of time.

GG: Roxy?

You do the grand reveal and tell her all about the alcoholic booty you've uncovered, and you can practically hear her sigh in exasperation and relief over her sky-blue text. So that's what it was she says. You had me rather worried for a moment she says. Do be careful with yourself, for goodness' sake. I hope you know your limits!

You wonder if you could just drink your mortification away, or if the world could just do you a favor for once in your life and swallow you up. It doesn't, so you go for the former. It's only a little less painful to talk with the girl you love when you're tipsy, and over time you almost forget what it's like to be sober at all.

 

...

 

You're sober for what feels like the first time in your life again and you have no idea how to handle it at all.

You had the perfect opportunity to kiss her and you missed it. But it hadn't been perfect, had it? You knew that Jane had lived her life with a massive target sign hovering above her head, but it didn't make coming face to face with her body any easier at all. There were some things that even getting piss-drunk couldn't dull the shock from. The prospect of kissing the corpse of the girl you loved? That was one of them.

Dirk had told you that if you had entered the game in the conventional manner, you would have been able to bring your whole house into the session. Unfortunately, you did not. Your home with its stockpile of liquor and windows and secret lab and everything you'd ever known and loved was doubtless being obliterated by drones and miles by the second. For the moment, you were far more miserable over the loss of alcohol more than anything else. You've got a friend full of oblivious, a sylladex empty of vodka, and a head full of sobriety.

"You're being quiet," Jane observes, glancing back at you over her shoulder even as the alchemiter beams down her newest invention. "Is there something the matter?"

You just smile wanly and hope it doesn't look as off as you feel. "Post-mortem hangover," you offer, tapping the side of your head. But it's gratifying to see her blink and then give that bucktoothed grin of hers, the corners of her lips twitching, they way did whenever she was trying her best not to laugh and you were trying your best not to close the distance between you to kiss her dimples. You successfully resist. She not-so-successfully breaks into giggles.

"Is there such a thing? Ro-lal, I'm certain that you're the only person who would think the downside of dying would be the lack of drink afterward!"

"No waaay. I bet you a hundred boonbucks that the ghost of, hell, I don't know, Carrie Nation would totes have thought the same. First thing she did after she kicked it was haunt the nearest bar and cry. Lost her purpose in life and everything. And her life, but that's just being technical."

"Is that so? Well then. The next time I come across her ghost, I'll be sure to ask her."

In your opinion, the best way to deal with love and loss was through alcohol. In the absence of that, you would deal with death through laughter. You were a gamer and you were all too familiar with the concept of extra lives. You didn't have any left. Jane--depending on whether she kept her powers or not, she wasn't sure either--might have some to spare. There was no way in hell you were ever going to let her die again, but it occurred to you that if she did, you probably weren't going to be able to revive her with a kiss again. She had rose up from her dream. Sleeping beauty was awake now, for good.

You glance down at her latest alchemization, then just stare blankly in disbelief. "Jane. Really?"

"What? It wasn't expensive, and the description says it'll add 2 points to my luck stat."

"You don't need an item like that just for a luck boost, Janey."

"Don't be silly. Of course I do!" she reconsiders briefly. "Maybe I don't _need_ it, but I want it. Is that so wrong?"

There's nothing wrong, it was just... silly. But Jane was definitely not new to silly by any means. You loved that about her too. So you take the mustache from the alchemiter platform and fix it under her nose for her, heart jumping in your throat as she gives you a beaming look.

You couldn't kiss her to bring her back, but you were both alive now. Maybe there was no better time than the present. Maybe there was nothing you could do but simply go for it. Maybe you could try to stop relying on booze for courage and see if you could ever muster some up for yourself.

You lean in and kiss the girl. Her mustache tickles your upper lip, but she doesn't pull back and you can see her eyes widening in surprise even as you close yours. For a moment, everything was _right_. This was what you always wanted, what you tried and could never tell her before.

Jane is blushing when you finally break it off and wink at her, suddenly bolder than you'd ever thought yourself to be. "For luck," you say, and grin.

You feel on top of the world, and your adventure is only just beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> shhhh shh I just realized Roxy's house did get brought in but the lack of booze was necessary. whoops!


End file.
